March of the Rockies

Needless to say, I've been meaning to write this entry for some time now - an outline of our upcoming trip. I debated about starting the blog with background information and an explanation of our decision to embark and the steps necessary to get here, but I'm sure that there will be a few quiet times in the coming days in which I can wax poetic about all of that. This entry is an outline. Because of the duration of our travels I'm going to have to break it up into pieces, but here's our plans for the month of March:

We have departed Toronto heading for Calgary (I am writing this entry on the plane, somewhere over London) on Monday March 8. We took off at 12pm and are scheduled to arrive in Calgary at 2pm local time. Robyn and I have been on the plane for less than 30 minutes and we've already met and spoke with a fellow traveller named Terry. He's an interesting character and I can write a short note about him later. I mention Terry because, since Robyn and I decided to take on this journey, we're constantly amazed by the reactions of those around us and how keen strangers are to hear more of our plans and story. The vast majority of people are incredibly supportive and encouraging of us, which is a marvelous phenomenon - it seems that everyone has some latent desire to launch out into the world and see what it has to offer. Invariably when we outline our trip and rationale I see a twinkle in the eyes of those we speak with - it's a brief glimpse into that persons' (often a complete stranger) sense of adventure. I digress. Which I will do often (and overuse punctuation, such as the comma (and brackets)).

We arrive in Calgary at 2pm and will be picked up by Robyn's longtime friend Kerri and her boyfriend Daniel. They live in Calgary and have graciously offered to chauffeur us from the airport back to their place for the evening where we will stay and, by the sounds of it, eat well. Robyn knows Kerri from childhood sports teams and I get the sense from her that she's honestly excited for us to visit and see her home. It goes without saying that their hospitality is greatly appreciated and makes the first portion of the journey that much more comfortable.

We'll stay in Calgary for the night and then we'll be picked up by another one of the colourful characters in this chaotic quest across Canada: Robyn's university roommate (and member of bridal party) Amy. Amy lives in Trail BC (near Nelson) and works as a head of house for Katimivik. There will be plenty written of Amy so I won't bog this post with a long-winded, flowery description. Amy is good people.

I should also mention our travel companion for the first two weeks of March: Robyn's other university roommate, longtime friend, and also member of bridal party Laura (hereafter referred to as LJ). I met LJ in grade school and have actually known her longer than Robyn, but that's neither here nor there. LJ is an avid traveller and has a great sense of humour so she's an easy fit into our small group of voyageurs.

When Amy picks up Robyn, LJ, and myself I will be riding along with three girls and severely outnumbered. It's a good thing I ooze masculinity or else some may confuse me for their gay best friend. I assure you, this is not a concern of mine but just to ensure there's no mix up I'm going to wear clothing bearing the logo of a major sports team whenever I'm in public with them. I'll probably try not to coordinate my outfit either.

Amy grabs us from Calgary with her van and we start out on our way through BC. Our ultimate end goal is Vancouver, from which we depart to head home on March 31, but we have many stops planned along the way. In the interest of brevity (it's likely a lost cause at this point though) the rest of the trip looks roughly like this:
- Depart Calgary heading for Banff on March 9 and stay the night
- Depart Banff on the 10th heading South through interior BC. Between the 10th and 13th we will be snowboarding the local mountains and staying in the cheapest accommodation that we can bear. Here is a rough outline of our route over these few days.
- Upon arriving in Trail we will settle in for a week. There's good snowboarding in the area and Amy's house offers cheap accommodation and a chance to relax. Amy's 'tenants' are on a placement during this time so the four of us have the place to ourselves. It should be a great experience.
- LJ leaves our group and flies home on the 19th. Robyn and I will stay on for another night (or two) and then head West in a rental car towards Vancouver. We have every intention of stopping to smell the Pacific Dogwood so we are unsure of when we will arrive. The laissez-faire approach to travelling is going to be a recurring theme.
- We'll be in the Vancouver area from the 22nd until we depart on the 31st (with a jaunt to Whistler in there) and look forward to exploring the city and surrounding attractions. Robyn's uncle lives in the area as well as my cousin's family and a high school friend. We want to cross paths with everyone we're remotely connected to in order to get a better sense of BC. Guides are always helpful.
- We fly out of Vancouver on the night of the 31st, heading back to Toronto.

We'll be in Toronto until April 6, when we depart for Guatemala and the wonders of Central and South America.

There - the Western Canada leg has been established. Now we're just going to put one foot in front of the other and see what happens.

Until next time.